Didier von Daeniken, global head, private banking and wealth management, Standard Chartered Private Bank shares his views with Asian Private Banker in the ‘Final Word’, a ten-part series where the industry’s leaders share their thoughts and opinions on key issues around industry trends, business performance, investment solutions, regulations and compliance, and technology.
Industry trends | What is the state of Asia’s talent pool and did your firm pay significantly higher for new talent? What is your view on private banking talent development in Asia?
At Standard Chartered Private Bank, our focus is on hiring experienced RMs, and this is certainly a very competitive talent pool.
Whilst compensation is one aspect of the decision to move for these individuals, what is more important is the assurance that we are able to offer the highestquality experience to prospective clients. To this end, we have made significant investments in our brand, platform, and processes, which is showing through the quality of bankers we are attracting.
Our Private Bank Academy offers a highly competitive development experience to all of our front-line colleagues. The programme is run with our in-house expertise as well as our partners from Fitch Learning and INSEAD to develop superior client and technical skills for our people. I consider continuous learning to be essential for all of us and the Academy puts us at the forefront of this key priority.
Business Performance | In the midst of what has been construed as an increasingly difficult macroeconomic environment, how do you think the private banking and asset management industry will perform in 2019? Will it be a year to separate the wheat from the chaff?
Private banking is all about the clients, macroeconomic difficulties notwithstanding. At Standard Chartered Private Bank, our ambition is to drive prosperity for our clients by providing them with a platform for unbiased decision-making. To do this, we pride ourselves on having an open architecture so that our clients can benefit most from product recommendations that are carefully curated from diverse and independent sources that truly reflect their needs.
Business Performance | What is the one revenue line that you must build up significantly in the coming few years to ensure business sustainability? What is your view on the revenue mix of the industry in general?
Besides ongoing digitisation, sustainable investing or impact investing is an area that is going to drive sustainability (pun intended) for our business.
According to the GIIN’s eighth Annual Impact Investing Survey, out of 229 survey respondents, 225 invested US$35.5 billion into over 11,000 deals in 2017. They also intend to increase their investment by 8% and the number of deals by 5% during 2018.
In Asia, over 85% of billionaires are first-generation business owners and many of these families are preparing their next generation by engaging them in marrying the family’s investment strategy with their desire to give back to the society and the idea of sustainable investing has been gaining traction. They’re intrigued by and interested in the idea of driving exponential impact while also seeking financial returns through investing in sustainable businesses. It’s clear that globally, investors are looking to harness the financial system to catalyse sustainable development and Standard Chartered Private Bank is uniquely positioned to help translate the passion into action.
Regulations & Compliance | What’s the essential tool you have or are planning to create that will help your firm tackle the uptick in regulatory stringency and scrutiny? Do you think that the compliance costs of your business have peaked?
In private banking or, for that matter, banking in general, it is absolutely critical to have a set of robust governance frameworks that guides how business is done. In light of changing landscapes, be it technology, political, or macroeconomic changes, keeping this set of rules up to date at all times is even more crucial. Clients are at the centre of everything we do, so safeguarding of clients’ interests is paramount. While we continue to invest in technology to enhance how we serve our clients, these digital initiatives also factor in the latest regulatory requirements.
Technology | What is your view on robo-advisors and is your firm developing robo-capabilities of its own? Have you observed any robo-advisory developments that could materially disrupt the industry?
In my view, private banking and wealth management will be best served by a combination of man and machine. Using the prowess of technology to analyse and process massive amounts of data in an unbiased way is a great complement to the adaptability and nimble thinking of a human advisor. We partnered with Thomson Reuters to launch ADVICE 2.0 — an industry-first advisory tool that helps our private bankers provide clients with actionable investment advice within minutes. Bankers have access to multiple sources across assets, from equities, bonds, funds, FX, and derivative products to the latest news and commentaries.
And with my wealth management hat on, we also introduced the Personalised Investment Ideas (PII) tool for the Priority client segment. PII uses deep machine learning and augmented intelligence to design advisory algorithms and integrate data from multiple sources. It differs from other tools in the industry as it’s able to generate investment ideas unique to each client’s risk profile and portfolio performance.
Meet 2018’s industry leaders in the full round up of of Asian Private Banker‘s the Final Word 2018.
